CCTO seizes equipment of pipe-laying contractor
THE Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) impounded the heavy equipment of the contractor hired to install water pipes at a portion of the South Road Properties (SRP) for failing to put up signs to warn motorists.
CCTO executive director Rey Gealon said that several accidents occurred in portions of the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) that the contractor excavated for the pipelaying work.
Last Wednesday night, two motorcycles figured in an accident on the southbound lane of the CSCR, near the Talisay City exit.
CCTO Operations Chief Jonathan Tumulak said that the excavation on the road are covered by steel plates, which become slippery when there is rain.
“Mao nga angay gyod unta nga naay mga signs ug additional personnel sa area (This is why there should be signs and personnel to warn motorists),” he said.
Gealon said only caution notes printed on ply- wood were put up near the excavation on the outer lane of the CSCR.
He said that the contractor should have set up rotating lights, additional lighting and reflectorized signs within the project site.
The contractor was hired by Pilipinas Water Resource Inc. (PWRI), which is undertaking a water supply project for Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI)'s mixed-use project in the SRP. The contractor secured a work permit from the City Technical In- frastructure Committee, but it did not follow the correct schedule of civil works, Tumulak said.
Tumulak said that road projects and other civil works in the SRP are only allowed from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to avoid traffic congestion.
The pipe-laying project reduced the Cebu Citybound lane of the CSCR to one lane.
If the contractor coordinated with CCTO, Gealon said that they could have deployed additional traffic enforcers in the SRP to guide motorists.